Operator News

Kangwon Land gets approval for 50 new tables and 250 more slots

Kangwon Land, the only casino in South Korea where locals can play, has been given the green light to add 50 new tables to its existing 200 tables, and 250 slots to its existing 1,360 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The increase in gaming positions will see the gaming floor expand by 14,512 square metres to cover 20,260 square metres.

JP Morgan analysts DS Kim, Mufan Shi and Selina Li said: “This will be first major casino expansion since 2012 and this suggests the policy backdrop remains pretty benign (if not favorable) to the local casino. We wouldn’t be too surprised if there will be further easing of restrictions changes in maximum betting limits given frustratingly sluggish business/demand environment that Kangwon Land is in, which – if it happens – would potentially bring in more immediate benefits to the business. On the negative side, however, 2028 is really, really far out even for long-term investors, especially considering the expansion may not necessarily lead to actual growth in revenues.

“The current trend is a case in point : Kangwon Land’s mass GGR has been tracking five per cent to 10 per cent below pre-COVID levels in recent quarters, although its effective capacity is more than 20 per cent larger than pre-COVID levels. This indicates that the current downturn is clearly a demand issue, not really supply/capacity-led.”

Its foreign-player-only zone will see betting limits increase from KRW 300,000 ($224.63) to KRW 300m ($200,000). Kangwon Land improved its GGR by 8.3 per cent year-on-year to reach KRW 337.7bn in its second quarter.